Lawyer - News

Shearman & Sterling has announced an increase of 7 percent in London associate salaries, putting the firm's rates well ahead of those at top London firms. A newly qualified solicitor based at the firm's London office will get paid 80,000 pounds ($157,976). Shearman is the first major firm to announce salary increases this year, with a raft of U.K. and U.S. rivals set to announce theirs in coming weeks. However, few firms are expected to make major increases as advisers feel the impact of the credit crunch. No comments

According to fellow Lexblogger, Vicky Johnson, individual plan particpants now have the opportunity to recover damages against plan fiduciaries who breach their responsibilities.  The United State Supreme Court recently held in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates., Inc. that an individual that sustained a financial loss in plan assets could sue under ERISA to recover damages cause as a result of plan fiduciaries.  In this instance it is generally understood now that individuals can recover under 409(A) of ERISA with respect to damages like this in a defined contribution (in this case a 401(k)) plan.

For the full text opinion, follow this link: LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Assocs., Inc.

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There are a number of ways people are lured into signing up for Health Maintenance Organizations or HMOs. The best method so far is advertising or rather misleading advertising, in which HMOs appear to offer more than they actually deliver. I think this is one of the reasons why organizations like the Health Administration Responsibility Project exist.

One indicator of such misleading marketing tactics is when the offered plan is just too good to be true. And because of the implementation of ‘lock-in’ rule, wherein beneficiaries are not allowed to switch plans; all the more that this misleading advertising poses a great threat to the public than ever before.

Here are some marketing tactics HMOs use to lure beneficiaries to sign up for coverage:

• Unlimited prescription drug coverage. Consumers must be warned about this unlimited generic and brand name prescription drug coverage offer by several HMOs. The ‘unlimited’ catch is misleading since most HMOs cover only medications listed on a formulary or preferred drug lists.
• Better than Original Medicare. Some medical plans are actually offering more benefits than Medicare but they are not really for free. They come at a cost.
• $0 Premium offer. Plans often boast of a $0 premium while in fact individuals are required to pay their Medicare Part B premiums, done monthly at $78.20.

There are I guess a lot more, but the point here is that beneficiaries should really be on-guard against these marketing tactics. A nationwide list of healthcare specialist attorneys is available for those who might need some assistance in this particular issue.

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Last week, Robert Coughlin II became the first Justice Department official charged in the influence-peddling investigation focusing on former Greenberg Traurig lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But documents filed in Coughlin's case and e-mails released through congressional investigations are explicit about Team Abramoff's line into the DOJ: Coughlin was but one of many "friendlies," as they are identified in Coughlin's statement of offense. A source says the DOJ is still investigating other former officials. No comments

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may have a major problem on its hands. A petition raising the issue of the possibly unconstitutional appointment of nearly two-thirds of its patent appeals judges has been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court. Such a constitutional flaw, if legitimate, could call into question hundreds of decisions in the past eight years worth billions of dollars, and could also affect the appointment of nearly half of the agency's trademark appeals judges. No comments

A woman killed in Atlanta on Friday in what police say is an apparent murder-suicide was a Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker secretary, the firm's Atlanta managing partner, Philip J. Marzetti, confirmed Friday evening. Police said a man shot and killed the woman and then turned the gun on himself outside the Bank of America Plaza. The shooter was an employee of a temporary agency who had been working for three months in the law firm's records center. No comments

recently spoke to attorneys from well-known plaintiffs firms to find out if they've noticed any recent trends in movement within the plaintiffs bar. Some law firm leaders said defections are rare among firms in the plaintiffs bar, while others said that they do happen but largely go unnoticed by most of the legal community. Still, there are those who feel plaintiffs attorneys have been moving more in recent years, if not necessarily by choice. No comments

If you're handing out BlackBerrys like candy in the workplace, you better have a policy in place to ward off potential overtime lawsuits. That's the advice many lawyers are shelling out to employers using hand-held devices to allow wired-up employees to work anywhere, anytime. No comments

Guilt or innocence has become largely beside the point for corporations defending themselves against aggressive federal prosecutors and allegations of criminal wrongdoing, says attorney Joan McPhee. Corporations facing criminal charges cannot afford to exercise their right to a jury trial and must instead resolve their disputes with the government short of the courthouse steps, says McPhee, who offers some approaches to addressing the situation. No comments

High-profile lawyer Rosemarie Arnold was awarded a scant $227,000 in hourly fees last week for 4 1/2 years representing Antonia Verni, the girl whose paralysis caused by a crash with a drunken football fan focused national attention on binge drinking at sports events. The $105 million verdict against stadium vendor Aramark Corp. in 2005 set a dram shop record. Arnold, who was fired from the case in 2003, had asked for half the contingency fees. No comments